Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/702975
21 GERMANY head coach Joachim Low has reiterated his commitment to the job, insisting he will lead his country to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Low, who brought World Cup glory to the Germans in 2014, was considering his position after a Eu- ro 2016 semi-final defeat to host na- tion France, but after speaking with DFB president Reinhard Grindel on Tuesday he has decided to see out his existing contract, which has two years still to run. "We were all obviously disap- pointed after the semi-final, the weeks before and during the tour- nament were good," Low said on dfb.de. "Despite our disappoint- ment the team did not disappoint, we were the youngest team in the tournament. "I see still great potential, I am sure they will give us much pleas- ure. "My ambition still remains high and that is to work with those play- ers and to develop them with a view to the 2018 World Cup in Russia." Grindel added: "For us it was a matter of respect to let the national coach, after such an intense tourna- ment, have a few days of rest to ana- lyse the events, but we never had a doubt that he would continue. "We would like to continue with determination and seek to defend the title at the 2018 World Cup as a large, common goal. "I stick with what I have repeated- ly stressed during the tournament, Jogi Low is the best coach for this team. He has our full confidence." Germany begin their defence of the World Cup with a qualifying group that contains the Czech Re- public, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino. Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 13 JULY 2016 ATHLETICS TENNIS FOOTBALL UK anti-doping chief admits 'grave mistakes' after critical report BRITAIN'S anti-doping agency made a "ghastly mistake" in its handling of a probe into the role of a doctor accused of supply- ing banned drugs to athletes, the chairman of UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) David Kenworthy has ad- mitted. The Sunday Times reported in April that Dr Mark Bonar pre- scribed banned drugs to 150 sports figures including several Premier League footballers. Kenworthy's admission follows the publication of an independent report commissioned by the gov- ernment following the allegations. The report was critical of UKAD, saying it was "difficult to under- stand" why the anti-doping body did not pass on information given by amateur cyclist Dan Stevens to the General Medical Council (GMC), the regulatory body re- sponsible for Dr Bonar. "Frankly, I still do not know why we didn't -- we certainly talked about it," Kenworthy was quoted as saying by the Guardian. "It was a ghastly mistake and it should never have happened. No- body is disputing that." The report revealed that the agency had been advised seven times by Stevens and its own staff to notify the GMC, yet it failed to do so. Dr Bonar claimed his "clients" included an England cricketer, British Tour de France cyclists, a British boxing champion, tennis players, martial arts competitors, and footballers. Despite the damaging nature of the report, Kenworthy, a former chief constable of North York- shire, said UKAD was keen to learn from the episode. "I have worked for four police forces and chaired two national charities, so I know everybody makes mistakes but that is how you learn. I also know UKAD is still the best anti-doping organi- sation in the world," he said. "It's why the World Anti-Doping Agency asked us to pick up the pieces in Russia, why we're provid- ing know-how on intelligence-led testing at the Rio Olympics." The anti-doping laboratory which was used to analyse samples from athletes during the London 2012 Olympic Games Murray targets top ranking after Wimbledon triumph Great Britain's Andy Murray kisses the trophy as he celebrates winning the men's singles final against Canada's Milos Raonic WORLD number two Andy Murray has set his sights on overtaking Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings after cap- turing his second Wimbledon crown on Sunday. Murray, who reunited with coach Ivan Lendl last month, has reached the finals of his last five tournaments, winning in Rome and at Queen's Club before beat- ing Milos Raonic in straight sets to end a 36-month hunt for a third grand slam title. Murray's triumph and Djoko- vic's third-round loss means 4845 ATP ranking points now separate them. "I would love to get to number one, for sure, and the way to do that is to show up every week and be focussed on that event," Mur- ray told British media. "It's definitely a goal. It's some- thing I spoke to my team about, something I chatted to Ivan about. "This has been a great tourna- ment for me but, if I want to win a few slams over the next few years, I am going to have to get better. I know that he (Djokovic) will come back strong from this because of the player he is." Djokovic arrived in London as the holder of all four grand slams and the Serb had not been beaten on the big stage since losing to Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka in the 2015 French Open final. "Novak is still clearly number one in the world right now. He is not just going to go away because he has had one bad tournament. You can't forget what he has done in the last 18 months or so -- it has been incredible," Murray added. Low plans to stick with Germany Joachim Low: Keen to defend World Cup crown